Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/79

V.] is supposed to be expert in the art. It is a great curative agent in the treatment of complaints connected with the nervous system, and always produces the most agreeable sensation. The advantages of shampooing have begun to be appreciated by the Western Medical Science, which no longer hesitates to recognise massage as a therapeutic agent. This fact is viewed with satisfaction by the Hindoos, who fondly hope to see in the several scientific discoveries of the West the revival and salvation of their own medical lore, which, instead of being treated as empirical, will be recognised as the collective wisdom of those who have had due regard to science and theory. In India, people — especially the males — are in the habit of being shampooed more as a matter of luxury than anything else. Female patients are operated upon by female experts only. Excessive indulgence in massage, as in everything else, is deprecated.

Sleeping in the day-time, except in summer, is discouraged. It is allowed to those who are given to walking and riding long distances, and who are in the habit of undergoing much physical exertion; also to children and the sick, as well as to those who can "control their sleep,"